


Three Dead, One Missing

by Doc_Cairo



Series: The Hybrid-verse [1]
Category: Steven Universe - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Detective Story, Gen, Grief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-07-26 09:24:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7568827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doc_Cairo/pseuds/Doc_Cairo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Detective Zeke Strahm has been on many a crime scene. Even the clean cuts through the burglar's bones don't seem that unusual to him. What bothers him is the unexplained disappearance of the victims' daughter.  And more so, the strange beings he encounters while searching for her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Crime Scene

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: This is dark-fic. Like, really dark. First time writing anything this dark. I warned you.

Zeke Strahm was not exactly a decorated detective. His peers had solved much higher profile cases and received much more public recognition for them. This by no means meant he wasn't a good detective... just that he usually found himself dealing with cases who's details were too disturbing or sensitive to disclose to the public, unsolved or otherwise. He had a good reputation for handling that sort of thing in the department... which is why he dealt almost exclusively in those areas while the others preferred more 'sanitary' fare. But c'mon... it's Empire City. That word means nothing here. Ten years working here, he thought he'd seen it all. Which is why he seriously doubted the scene he was driving to was nearly as bad as he'd been told.

His reputation may not have been public, but it had spread at least among police forces of the tri-state area.  Which is why he was frequently called out of Empire City to the surrounding cities whenever 'something really fucked up' happened. Thing was, Empire City's definition of 'fucked up' and someplace like Charm City's definition of 'fucked up' didn't really line up. So when he got called in to deal with something 'fucked up' in a suburb near there, he didn't expect it to actually be 'fucked up'. Small town cops with no stomach for the gore will say that about any homicide scene in his experience. This was going to be a waste of his time.

He parked his oldsmobile cutlass on the street across from the scene. Three police cars, with lights on, we're parked in front of the set of three story townhouses. Four of them, attached, with police tape lining the area in front of one of the center ones. As he approached, one of the officers immediately approached him to shoo him away, but he'd already drawn his badge.

"Ezekiel Strahm. Homicide." He said before pocketing the badge. "Take me to the fucked up shit."

* * *

A minute or two later, he was being escorted into the home by a female officer who had introduced herself as Diane.

"We've got three bodies." The woman told him. "Two are the homeowners: Doug & Priyanka Maheswaran. Gunshot wounds, weapon found on premises, and we've got prints on it matching our third body."

"Seems clean cut to me." Zeke rolled his eyes. He'd seen this before. Common burglary. Homeowners wake up... creep has a gun. Unfortunate, but not unusual. "How the perp die?"

"We can't say for sure that he-"

"-yeah yeah, but it's a safe conclusion to work from though. How'd he die?" Zeke asked, fairly certain he knew the answer. He'd dealt with cases of burglars who didn't go into these situations intending to commit actual violence, and then lost their nerve after killing someone. And then they had a gun at hand.

"Well that's why we got you Mr. Strahm."  The officer said tersely as she led him towards an entire room that had been completely tarped off at the door. The officer flinched as she pulled aside the tarp, and visibly looked away as she held it open for him.  As he crossed the threshold into the houses kitchen, the scent of blood hit hard.

"OK, I admit it. This IS pretty fucked up."  He muttered.

Dismemberment of corpses. Not something totally foreign to him... he'd dealt with a particularly demented serial killer once who'd made a calling card of it. But what you don't understand if you've never tried to dismember a body is that the human body is tough... you need serious strength and serious tools to do it, and even then it's messy as hell. The kind of clean cuts you might see from a blade in movies were pure fiction... at the very least, the bones would have to shatter or break jaggedly. I mean, clean cuts through bones weren't impossible, but you couldn't just do that shit with a knife.  You'd need massive weight, gravity, or some other force multiplier on your side.  That's how guillotines worked anyhow.

Three major break points. The right shoulder, about 3/4ths of the way above the elbow. The detached limb lay on the opposite side of the room. He guessed that had to be what went first. Second was the left leg, just above the knee. Detached, but still reasonably close to the body.  There were multiple stab wounds to the chest; large penetrations indicating that whatever had been stabbing him was larger than you'd expect for a knife, unless the stabber was digging around in there once the blade was in. And the third break point, the neck. It was not completely detached, but there was a hole five or six inches wide there... and whatever had hit him there had gone straight through with enough force to break the kitchen tile underneath.

There was no weapon on the scene, nothing that could have done this.  Which meant someone left with said weapon. If this had been done by one of the homeowners in self defense, they wouldn't have been able to get rid of the weapon before bleeding out, and there was little indication they'd had a chance to defend themselves. So the most likely scenario was that a fourth party was involved... someone who killed the perp and took the weapon with them. Maybe the perp wasn't here alone... after the victims were dead, one killed the other to take both shares of loot.

"Diane." Zeke called to the officer, who had remained outside the room. "Have you all surveyed the house of valuables?  Seen what was taken?"

"Nothing." Diane told him. "At least, nothing you'd expect. Lots of electronics and jewelry still here, and some cash."

"So if anything was taken, it's something we wouldn't expect to be here." Zeke pondered as he stood up away from the body. "ID on the perp yet?"

"He didn't have anything identifying on him, so we're still investigating."

"Keep digging, let me know when you have something." He told her as he wandered out of the kitchen and into the hallway.  "Something doesn't add up.  We're missing some-" He stopped dead in his tracks, face-palmed, and took three steps back to the framed photo he'd just walked past. A family of three. Mother. Father. Daughter. When he was alone, he was gonna smack himself upside the head for overlooking the obvious.

"Where's the child?" Zeke asked.

"We don't know." Diane told him.

"Well have you looked?!"

* * *

 

It took a few minutes of badgering to get the officers outside to cough up the evidence he was looking for. They had to have found one of the parent's cell phones. Getting his hands on one of them would have normally required him to fill out some red tape paperwork bullshit at the station. But he'd never let red tape get in his way before. He sat back down in the cutlass and closed the door, and then swiped the screen on. Mercifully, it wasn't locked with a pin or password. He'd just been greeted with a smiling photo of the mother, the daughter, and a boy who looked a little younger than her. He opened the contacts, found the number. He seriously doubted this would get any results, but he of course had to exhaust all avenues.  The phone rang once... twice... he expected to hear a voice mail prompt. Whoever had taken the girl had probably ditched the phone immediately. But to his surprise, there was an answer.

"Hello." A grown woman's voice came from the phone. The tone... it was not the typical greeting tone one used... nor was it a question. Just a statement.

"Connie?"

"No. This is not Connie." The voice said calmly.

"Who is this?"

"A friend." Came an unflinching, unhesitating answer.

"Can I talk to her?"

"No." The voice said firmly.

"Where is she?"

"Not available."

"Listen... you can stop playing games and cut to the chase. I know what's going on here." Zeke grew irritated.

"No, you really don't, Mr. Strahm."  The hair on Zeke's neck stood up. He had never identified himself. He looked suspiciously at the street around him. No one he could see but the cops, and none of them on phones.

"Who is this?"

"Connie is safe. We are protecting her. She needs time to recover from this."

"WHO ARE YOU?"

"Do not coming looking for her. Dragging her into your investigation will only hurt her more." The woman refused to break monotone.

"What do you want, a ransom? What are you doing with her?"

"You have the wrong idea Mr. Strahm. I beg you," The voice had a hint of emotion for the first time, "this was just a tragedy. Don't make her live through it twice." There was a moment of silence as Zeke pondered how to respond to that. "Goodbye." The call disconnected. Zeke's immediate redial attempt went straight to voice mail, the phone had been shut off. He pounded on his steering wheel in frustration, setting off the horn.

So, coming full circle... this was fucked up after all. And definitely worth his time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you we going dark. Well Connie always wanted to be a YA protagonist, dead parents are usually part of the package deal.
> 
> Zeke Strahm is an original character by a friend of mine, from a pair of detective stories he wrote for the Slender Man Mythos: Seeking Truth and The Mystic. He's graciously loaned me the character for this story, although this is quite obviously not canon to his stories. Slenderman probably doesn't exist in the Steven Universe Canon. Probably?


	2. The Green One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeke's investigation is impeded by a tiny, snarky alien.

Zeke didn't sleep well that night. An hour or two, tops. He rarely slept soundly in the first place, but the unnerving phone call had kept his mind racing. Also, it had already been the dead of night when he'd arrived in town, and it was too late to check into a motel or anything, so he'd slept in his car. Car sleep was evil. After the call, he'd talked to the Maheswaran's neighbors; while he'd already read their police statements regarding the crime itself, he wanted some insight on the missing girl. The townhouse to the right housed an older retired couple. They knew the Maheshwarans somewhat and had nothing but good things to say about their daughter. And he learned that the parents were frequently driving her back and forth to nearby 'Beach City', where they presumed she had friends. The townhouse on the left was home to some twenty-something burnouts. Zeke didn't even need to smell their apartment to guess they were into some hard drugs, but he'd certainly gotten a whiff of something when he entered. They hadn't really associated with the neighbors at all, and what little info they had was very likely the product of a drug induced hallucination. Uh huh, yes, I'm sure you saw her get dropped off in the driveway by a pink lion. Great tip there, thanks.

At this point, he had nothing to go on until crime lab finished picking things apart. His only lead was the phone call from the night before, and this connection to Beach City. So until more clues came down the pipe from that, he had decided Beach City was the best place to look for her or someone who knew her. The woman who answered the phone had claimed to be a 'friend' after all. He supposed it was possible she really was being sheltered by someone there after what happened to her parents. But his gut didn't think that was very likely. And they had known his name. Still wrapping his head around that one. He parked the cutlass on the side of the road that ran parallel to the beach. To his left, the beach and the ocean, to his right, restaurants, stores, and a boardwalk with rides straight ahead. Time to talk to people. His least favorite part of police work. Ugh. He needed coffee for this. He eyed a stand alone building separated from the rest of the strip. Big Donut. That'll do.

* * *

 

"Good morning! Can I help you?" The young blonde woman behind the counter asked. Sadie, he scanned from her name tag.

"Black coffee." Zeke told her, taking out his wallet. "And uh..." He glanced at the menu board overhead. There were donuts obviously... they had some other pastries... and then he saw a picture one of the most disgusting foodstuffs he could conceive of: a hot dog, pierced through the center holes of three glazed donuts.  'The Dog-nut'. He lost his appetite. "Just the coffee."  Zeke turned and looked back out the store's front windows towards the ocean, to avoid looking at the horrific hot dog again. A few moments later, he held a styrofoam cup in his hands. It was kind of bland... not tasty... but it did what coffee should at least. He paid his bill. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Sadie told him as she wandered out from behind the counter to wipe down a table with some stray sprinkles on it. "You picked a good weekend to visit." She told him. "Weather's great."

"Hm?" Zeke said.

"You're from out of town right?" Sadie said. "I figured... there's so few people that actually LIVE around here I feel like I know everyone. So I can pick out tourists right away."

"Oh, I'm actually here for work." Zeke said.

"What kind of work?"  in response, Zeke flashed his badge as he sucked coffee up through the narrow straw.

"OH GOD THE HEALTH INSPECTOR!" She suddenly panicked, causing Zeke to spit-take.

"Wha- no!" He held the badge out longer this time to clearly show he was with the police, and not the health department. She sighed with relief and some, but not all, of the color returned to her face.

"Oh... ok... just... forget I said anything." She stepped away.

"I hope that's not a common reaction here."

"That's a corporate-mandated reaction." Sadie told him. "Police then... what brings you here?"

"I'm looking for someone." Zeke said. Little detail as possible. He reached for the photo in his coat pocket, which he'd taken from a picture frame in the Maheshwaran household. "You said you know a lot of people around here... ever seen her?" He held it out to her.

"Yeah, that's Connie." Sadie said casually. "You're looking for her?" The look on her face was one Zeke could only describe as confusion. But his face probably wasn't a stone mask either... talk about dumb fucking luck that the first person he asked knew her.

"Yes.  Have you seen her recently?"

"She was in here a couple days ago with Steven."

"Steven?"

"Yeah, he's one of the local kids." Sadie said. "I've actually never seen Connie WITHOUT Steven tagging along." Zeke took out the mother's phone and showed her the lock screen picture.

"This kid?" He pointed at the chubby boy smiling next to the girl.

"Yeah, that's him." Sadie said. "Why do you have this picture? Is she in some kind of trouble?"

"I hope not." Zeke pocketed the phone. "Where can I find this Steven kid?"

* * *

 

What in the entire fuck.

Zeke was mildly suspicious when Sadie had told him to walk along the beach to the other side of the cliff. When he'd asked what the house looked like, she said that he couldn't miss it.  Well... she was right.

Pretty fucking hard to miss an apartment building sized statue of a giant six armed woman inlaid in the cliff. With the bottom pair of hands holding a modest looking wooden house in it's palms. Stairs led up to the house from the beach. More dumbfounding, how had he or no one he knew ever heard about this? This statue was not normal. For something this huge to be unknown was not normal. He drew out his own phone and Gaggled the town. Surely there was some explanation for this? He found the city's municipal site... which did not mention it. The city listed on a tourism site... which did not mention it. A blog called 'Keep Beach City Weird'... which was clearly run by a crazy person, but it at least made casual mention of the statue.  Alright... fine. Gaggle Maps. Satellite view. Surely someone must have... oh. It wasn't just that it wasn't listed as a landmark.

It was missing from the satellite pictures. It was just a blank stretch of beach.

Zeke leered up at the imposing statue and the house it supported. Well... this was a whole can of worms he could sort out later. Ticking clock on the missing child came first.  He climbed the stairs. And knocked on the door.

* * *

 

He just wanted a 'what the fuck button'. Like, one of those buttons from the commercials, so he could just press it over and over again today.  The door was answered by a roughly four foot tall girl with green skin. And nearly a foot of that was just triangular blonde hair. Also, was that a green rock set in her forehead?

"Hello?" She asked in a businesslike tone.

"Um..." Zeke stalled for a second. OK, so we're just gonna have to... not acknowledge that for a minute. "Is this the home of Steven Universe?"

"He's not home." She said.  And closed the door in his face. OH. OHH! Now it was on! Finally, someone being belligerent with him. Now he was back on familiar ground.  He pounded on the door again, and it promptly reopened. "What?" She said with a hiss.

"Ezekiel Strahm. I'm with the police." He flashed his badge. The girl's eyes glanced at the badge, and then back up towards his face.

"So?" She said. Zeke fumed.

"Listen, I'm looking for a missing girl named Connie Maheshwaran, and I'm told she hung out a lot with this Steven kid. I want to ask him a few questions."

"But he's not home." She shrugged.

"But this IS his home?"

"Yeah."

"And who are you?"

"Peridot." She told him. Strange name... guess he'd stow that away with the rest of the weird for the moment.

"Well, where is he then? And have you seen her?"

"Not recently." She said tersely. "Why are you looking for her?"

"Because she's missing!" Zeke said exasperated. It felt like arguing with a small child playing the 'why?' game.

"Well, I'm sure she knows where she is." Peridot said. "Anything else, officer?" She gave a cat-like smile... oh, now it was clear. She hadn't been playing dumb. This was all on purpose.

"You can start by telling me what's going on here. What is this statue?"

"That's privileged information." Peridot turned away from him. The thin screen door was about the only thing holding him back from breaking a lot of different police questioning rules.

"Listen... if you have anything to do with what happened to her, I'm going to find out."

"How?" Peridot glanced back over her shoulder. That tore it. Zeke grabbed the handle of the metal screen door and yanked on it, and it opened easily... and then yanked back closed. But he couldn't see anything or anyone pulling back on it. "Whoa whoa whoa." She turned around and crossed her arms. "You got a warrant?" Zeke glared. Peridot smiled. "That's right... I've seen your human law enforcement dramas! You can't come in here without permission from your superiors, or permission from me!"  Ok, no. He was done letting this green-skinned midget give him the business. Fuck procedure. Zeke pulled on the door more, but felt an even stronger force pulling back on it. He didn't know how. Zeke backed away from the door.

"Fine. I'll be back. With a warrant. And more cops."

"Is that really necessary?"

"I DAMN WELL THINK IT IS!" This was like... at least several variations of obstruction.

"Look... just, leave a phone number or something.  I'll give it to him when I see him." Peridot told him. Well... at least the threat got him somewhere. He took out his receipt from the Big Donut and scribbled his phone number on the back, and slid it under the door. "Anything else?" She asked. Zeke wasn't gonna give her the satisfaction of the last word here. It was time to round back on the weird stuff.

"Why are you green?"

"OH MY GOD, YOU CAN'T JUST ASK SOMEONE WHY THEY'RE GREEN, YOU RACIST CLOD!" The door slammed in his face. And he heard a faint giggle from behind it. Ok... so she's clearly seen 'Mean Girls'.

* * *

 

Zeke made a show of descending the stairs and walking out of view of the front windows. And then made a quiet return a few minutes later. If there's one thing he'd learned in his career, it's that sometimes to break a case you have to bend the rules. And she clearly knew something. He took the stairs one at a time, lightly, and when he reached the house, snuck past the door and window along the porch to a window on the far side of the house. And peeked inside.

The window was part of a bedroom... a raised split level of a single massive room that appeared to make up the whole house. It looked like the normal messy room of a normal adolescent or teenager. But he was disregarding these details and focusing on Peridot, who stood in the small kitchen area, in front of a fridge. And next to her stood an alien. A plush alien... like one of the big novelty stuffed animals you get at carnivals.  It wore a bow-tie, a top hat, and a neutral expression, while it stood on it's own, holding a big metal tray, onto which items from the fridge were being piled. Peridot's hair ruffled as she stuck her head in and out of the fridge reaching for things, as she carried out a conversation on a cell phone. Which was floating unsupported a few inches from her head.

"... well I dunno, what did you want me to do, let him in the temple?" She said, thankfully with no semblance of volume control, so Zeke could hear her through the glass. He resorted to putting his ear to it to try and hear the voice coming through the phone, but couldn't make anything out.  "Well we can't just let Steven talk to him!  He's worse at deception than I am..." She said, and then frowned, "which honestly, that is saying something.  How are they doing?" A pause for response. "Yeah, I'll get the ice cream." She snapped her fingers, and the alien plush began to move, setting the tray of food on the kitchen counter with a jerky motion, before stepping towards her, picking her up, and lifting her up to reach into the freezer. She pulled several individually wrapped ice cream sandwiches from it before the alien plush set her down and resumed it's previous position. "I just... I guess I still can't grasp how all this happened." Zeke strained to hear... she'd grown quieter and taken on a more serious tone. "Why to her? What did that human get out of it?" She paused to listen. "Horrible." A single word response. "Alright, I'm on my way back. Bye."  The phone floated into her hair and vanished among the yellow. She crossed her arms, sighed, and then started walking towards the back of the house. As she walked away from the alien plush, she uncrossed her arms and started making unusual motions with her wrists... motions that seemed to correspond to the jerky footsteps of her plush helper. Both walked onto a glass looking circular platform in front of a stone door... was there more to this place built INSIDE the mountain? When both were on, she made one final sweeping motion with both arms, and a bright light erupted from the circle completely concealing them. The light stopped as suddenly as it had come and they were gone.

Zeke sat down on the porch under the window, to just take a moment and process this madness. Angry little green woman. Levitating objects. Walking alien plushie. Rushmore-esque statue of a six armed woman. And all this from a lead from a donut shop employee. Weirdest day ever.  Was this all just a bad car-sleep induced dream? He took out his phone... not sure who exactly he could possibly call about this. The screen lit back up to show the web tabs he had open before he'd approached the house.

Keep Beach City Weird. It had looked like a bunch of crazy bullshit earlier, but it seemed tame compared to what he'd just seen. He scrolled through the blog for a bit, learning that the author of said blog was a townie here in Beach City. He headed back down the stairs. Ronaldo Fryman. He stepped back onto the beach.

"Alright, fuck it. Let's get even weirder."


	3. The Web of Weirdness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeke meets Ronaldo, who is more helpful than he realizes.

"Dispatches of TRUTH from the Beach City Undergriund..."

Zeke wasn't sure if it was a typo or some made up word this Ronaldo kid was using. Once he'd returned to the shade of his car and kicked the sand off his shoes, he'd sat down to give Keep Beach City Weird a more thorough investigation. A large portion of it he felt safe in disregarding: particularly the random digressions into tv show and game discussion. A few things had stood out: first, a grainy photo of this Steven kid again. He was even wearing the same outfit. But his hands had been poorly photo shopped to turn the tips of his fingers into cat faces. Another was of Ronaldo on a beach with some Godzilla scale purple blur in the background. Another image came along, captioned 'Can Big Science Explain this Potato?", and Zeke face-palmed.

The hell was he doing? He was here looking for a missing girl who's parents had been murdered... and he'd wound up on some teens ironic conspiracy theory blog. He guessed it all had to be an ironic act... it had to be. He'd never met anyone at any age that oblivious. He was very close to closing it and abandoning this train of thought when one more photo came across, a green disembodied hand high in the sky. Of course, even compared to the ones from earlier, this would have been the easiest to falsify, but he felt an unshakable sense of authenticity in it. He couldn't explain why. And a few images higher... the green girl who's stopped him at the house. On a tv screen. Wearing some kind of armor on her arms?

* * *

 

"Hello, what're you having?" Zeke was greeted at the fry shops front counter by young boy who he guessed couldn't have been older than thirteen. Like, suspiciously young to be working, even as part of a family business.  Zeke thought about cutting to the chase, but he'd regained some of his appetite after putting distance between himself and the Dog-Nut.

"Uh, I'll have the chilli fries." He opened his wallet and reached for a bill. His badge shined in the sunlight for a second and he saw the boys eyes flash wide, that same look as Sadie. "Calm down! I'm not the health inspector!" He rushed to say.

"Aw... darn." He muttered. "I got all excited. I've been waiting for a surprise inspection, I've had this place spotless!" He said proudly. Not the reaction he'd anticipated.

"So uh... chilli fries?" Zeke slid the bill across the counter.

"Right, droppin' em now." The boy stepped away from the counter towards some fryers a few feet behind him. He returned a minute later and gave Zeke change. "So what kind of badge-having-person are you then?"

"That's... not really important." Zeke said. Based on the kind of paranoia he'd seen on the blog, presenting himself as a police detective would put Ronaldo on the defensive right off the bat. "You're Peedee Fryman, right?"

"Yeah." He said semi-sarcastically, gesturing to the name tag on his shirt.

"I'm looking for your brother Ronaldo. Can I talk to him for a minute?"

"Oh, he's on lunch right now." Peedee said. "He's been going up to the hill by the lighthouse for them lately."

"Do you know anything about his blog?" Zeke asked.

* * *

 

"So at last, the organization has taken notice of my genius!"

"Sure, whatever kid. I've just got a few questions for..."

"But you're a fool to assume I'd talk so easily!" The chubby teen yelled and pointed at Zeke dramatically, before bolting towards the lighthouse door. Oh what fresh hell was this?

"Wait a second!" Zeke walked briskly after him as he saw him disappear inside. Zeke reached the door a moment later. "I just wanted to-sgkhdsf!" Zeke caught a large amount of salt water in his open mouth as he opened the door, and even more splattered across his coat, shirt and the rest of his head. Ronaldo stood a foot or two in front of him, holding a steel bucket. Zeke turned and spat out what he could of the water, but the pleasant aftertaste of the chili fries was replaced with pure salt. "The fuck kid?!"

"Sorry, I had to be sure. You're not one of them." Ronaldo set the bucket on the floor and adjusted his glasses, the glare concealing his eyes. "Which means... you really are from the organization, aren't you?"

"The hell are you talking about?"

"A stranger in town... with a badge... looking for someone who's posting classified information online..." Ronaldo continued dramatically. Guess his brother must have put it together and texted him a warning or something. "So... do you seek my help, or have you come to silence me?! Know that if you do, a dead drop is in place to release all my findings to the media!"

"Alright... calm the hell down." Zeke said authoritatively. "I'm not gonna hurt you... what the shit are you talking about?"

"You're... you're not from MOHS?" Ronaldo seemed a mixture of confused and taken aback.

"MOHS?"

"The Mysterious Organization for Hiding Secrets!" Ronaldo explained irritably. "Anyone who knows anything about anything knows about MOHS!" Zeke sighed. This kid was crazy, but harmless. Neither of them were in any danger but god damn was this going to be an annoying interrogation.

"Well, I don't. So would you care to inform me?" Zeke said.

"And to who exactly AM I speaking?" Ronaldo asked. Zeke groaned as he pulled out his police badge.

"Police Detective Ezekiel Strahm. I've got some questions about some things you posted on your blog."

"Is that all?"

"That's all."

"OK. Please come inside."

"We're already inside." Ronaldo glanced around the room.

"So we are."

* * *

 

Ronaldo had led him up the stairs to a room near the top of the lighthouse, with a TV, a couch, several freestanding chalkboards, and lots of papers pinned to walls and connected by yarn. It was like a twelve year old had tried to recreate Agent Mulder's office with what he had around the house.

"For starters, why did you drench me?" Zeke asked as he slid his brown overcoat off and hung it on a coat rack at the top of the stairs.

"Well, I thought you were either with the organization, or you were one of the rock people." Ronaldo told him. "Surely you saw my post about the rock people?"

"Uh..." Zeke stalled. He remembered a crudely animated gif of someone spraying someone else with water.

"I suppose the post was a little vague without the context of the live presentation..." Ronaldo started digging through papers piled on the floor near the TV. "The rock people are shape-shifters, but you can force them back into their default forms with water."

"Uh huh." Zeke said, trying to keep his tone neutral as possible.

"It's the grand conspiracy... I mean, I had always thought that the Sneeple were the grand conspiracy, but they're only a cover up for the REAL conspiracy..." Ronaldo flipped over one of the chalk boards to expose a diagram. A crudely drawn map of the Earth; the moon, with a diamond drawn on it... the same diamond on back of the dollar bill. "For thousands of years, a race of polymorphic sentient rocks have been harvesting the planet for minerals, hollowing the earth until it's light enough to be propelled by sub-light engines, so they can steal and enslave the whole planet in one fell swoop!" Zeke did everything in his power to not laugh. He really... REALLY, tried. He failed. "What's so funny?"

"Kid... there's no such thing." Zeke told him. "If you want to dig into conspiracies, I'm sure there's some real stuff out there, but this is just... it's so damn funny."

"It's not as if I don't possess evidence of my claims." Ronaldo looked grim and crossed his hands behind his back. "Are you ready to see video evidence Mr. Strahm?" Ronaldo withdrew a DVD hidden beneath the DVD player. "Last year, I produced this documentary for online distribution...' He paused dramatically, "which was pulled from the internet by parties unknown!" He waved it around dramatically.

One private screening of 'Rising Tides/Crashing Skies' later, Zeke was dumbstruck. Ronaldo was full of nonsense... and yet, he'd actually captured some very real, very helpful information.  The footage of the green hand in the sky didn't look faked. He'd narrowed in on this Steven Universe kid and his connection to events. And these so-called 'Crystal Gems'. What really sold him was the footage of them fighting the giant crab monster. Up until that point, he still suspected this could all be faked. And if the crab monster wasn't enough, there was the voice. The tallest of these 'Crystal Gems'... the one that had been called Garnet by the others...

**_No... you really don't Mr. Strahm._ **

The voice behind the phone.

"So... what say you now, detective?" Ronaldo said smugly.

"So they live in that statue, right?"

"Yes."

"And they're some of these Rock People you were talking about?"

"Pshh, of course not. They're the crystal gems, not rock people."

"Gems are types of rocks."

"Nah, it's not the same."  Zeke paused, concerned he'd just popped a blood vessel at the sheer stupidity. He decided it best not to try and argue with him.

"So... you what can you tell me about this Steven kid?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Zeke breaks into the temple and has a close encounter.


	4. The Right Questions

_Lizzie, I’m about to do something pretty fucking illegal to crack this case. And kinda dangerous. Which is why I’m texting instead of calling. Sorry, I know you hate that, but I can’t afford to let you talk me out of it. In case anything happens to me, I’ve left the information I have so far in the usual place. You know what to do if it comes to that, if you don’t hear back from me by morning..._

Zeke typed a few more critical words at the end of the message, then hesitantly erased them. That… was something he would have to save. Use it as extra motivation to keep himself alive. So he could say it to her in person. When it mattered.

Because it dawned on him this very well could be the case that could get him killed. Because this was officially bigger than three dead, one missing; this was FUCKING ALIENS. The safety of Connie Maheswaran had been his first priority, but now he was beginning to shuffle ‘fate of mankind’ to the top of the deck.

* * *

 

Zeke approached the beach house shortly before midnight. There were no lights on and no one in sight. He snuck up the steps, and listened intently at the window for any sound. Nothing. From his coat pocket, we withdrew the lockpicking tools that, strictly speaking, he was not allowed to half. He’d only used them on the job twice before, but he’d practiced plenty just in case. The door unlocked easily, and neither deadbolt or chain impeded him.

The interior of the house looked identical to when he’d peeked into the window earlier, although he was getting quite a different angle. He turned a quick circle, looking for any security measures: cameras, sensors, alarms… nothing he could see.  He ran the flashlight on his phone and climbed the stairs up to the split level, which contained a bed, nightstand, dresser, and an old fashioned CRT TV set. In the headboard of the bed, he spotted a framed photo of Connie Maheswaran. At this point, between what Ronaldo and Sadie had said, the photos on the phone, and some of Connie’s text-message logs with her mother he’d scrolled back through on her phone, he believed that this Steven was definitely a friend of Connie’s. Possibly boyfriend. Even if she had made her way here after finding her parents dead, there were lots of problems. Like why were they hiding her? Who killed the burglar? And also… still...freaking aliens.

Zeke wandered towards the back of the house and knelt down in front of the glassy surface raised several inches from the floor. He ran his fingers across the surface, which was smooth as he expected, but unnaturally cold compared to the rest of the room. He looked back up at the door behind it. Whereas the front part of the home was of wood, plaster, and other man made materials, the back section holding the door and platform seemed to be cut from the natural stone of the mountain. The door was set into the wall with no visible masonry, and he could see no hinges or other means of opening the door. The star shaped panel on it’s center inset with five tiny gemstones at each point: red, blue, pink, purple and white. He tried to press in on one, thinking it might be a button, but none moved. He tried to grip one side of the door and pull it… then the other side. No budging. Maybe this wasn’t actually a door… just some kind of decorative stone panel.

He walked back into the kitchen area, and peaked in the fridge and a few of the drawers, but found nothing that you wouldn't expect in a typical home… except a quart of 10W-30 motor oil slotted into the fridge door next to a half-gallon of 2% milk. Next he checked a closet next to the stairs up to the bedroom. He didn’t find any skeletons, just a bunch of board games and toys. He headed for the only door he hadn’t checked yet, which turned out to be a bathroom. A perfectly normal bathroom. Zeke groaned, still keeping his volume under control. This was a wash. What was he expecting to find anyway?

NOT A FUCKING LION.

When he exited the bathroom, the formidable shadow of the king of the beasts stood between him and the exit. And it had glowing pink eyes. And it snarled at him. Oh god. That meth-head had been right about the lion. Zeke instinctively reached in his jacket for his gun… but it was just a standard issue police firearm. It didn’t have the stopping power for something like this, and even if it did this thing would surely maul him before it bled out. Maybe a headshot… but he didn’t have the confidence to bet his life on that. He looked for a chair or other object in reach he could grab to put between him and the beast like a lion tamer… but found something else. The door was open. He bolted through it without thinking, with the lion hot on his heels. He hit the ground inside and turned to see the door disappear behind him, the last he saw of the lion was it’s glowing pink eyes.

* * *

 

The “room” he found himself in was brightly lit. And pink. Outrageously pink. A pink sky and pink floors that looked like clouds but had the consistency of carpet when he felt them. Was this an illusion? This room behind the door was under the mountain, so they endless void and sky were physically impossible. Unless this place was dimensionally transcendental. Why did he know those words?

Lizzie. He was sure she’d have theories… like this was a Tardis, or a holodeck, or the door had been a portal of some kind, so this place wasn’t really under the mountain.  Lizzie loved his kind of shit, at least in fiction. Encountering it in the real world would still have been uncomfortable, but not as much for her as for him. Zeke took a photo with his phone, as a matter of record. He tried to text it to his drop file he’d left for her earlier, but there was no signal. And now there was no door. And he was trapped.

“Hello?” He called out into the expanse, for lack of another option. “Is anyone here?” Silence.  Zeke sat down on the fluffy surface. “My name is Zeke Strahm. I come in peace.” Silence.

“What’s going on here?.” The room trembled slightly. A reaction. Not one he’d expected, and it made him spring back up to his feet. Was the room alive or something?

“Can I talk to someone?” He asked. Another tremble. It seemed to react more to questions than statements. Maybe he just had to be more specific. “Can I talk to Connie Maheswaran?”

“Hello Zeke Strahm.” He heard a voice behind him, as he whipped around and drew his gun on… the girl he’d been looking for all this time. “You wanted to talk to me?” Zeke froze. Where did she come from? Was this some kind of trick?

“You-you’re Connie?” Zeke stuttered, his nerves getting the better of him.

“I am.” She didn’t move. She didn’t elaborate. She didn’t react to having a gun held on her. Zeke hesitantly lowered it, but didn’t put it away.

“Where have you been?”

“Here.”

“Do you… know what happened to your parents?”

“No. Why, what’s happened?” This drew the first emotional reaction from the girl. Zeke paused… should he tell her? Right this second? I mean, she had to know, but he had to get them both out of here first. And figure out more of what’s going on. Having a crying mess of a child with him would make both impossible.

“They’re… they’re worried sick about you, you’ve been missing for two days.”

“I have?”

“What?” Zeke said. Either she didn’t have a good sense of time, or had lost some of it, or she was intentionally playing dumb. In fact, her short non-answers were starting to remind him of the little green one.

“What have you been doing here?” Zeke asked. She shrugged. “What is this place?”

“It’s Steven’s room.”

“Your friend Steven?”

‘“Yeah.”

“Do you know a way out of here?”

“For you, but not for me.” Connie told him. She pointed back at the cloudy space where Zeke had first dove in, and the door had reappeared.

“What do you mean not for you?”

“I can’t leave.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t.”  Zeke rubbed his temple in frustration. Wait a second. All these short, mechanical answers. Those guesses that Lizzie would have made… maybe they weren’t far off. Holodeck?

“Are you the REAL Connie?” Zeke asked.

“No.” Zeke re-raised his gun.

“What are you?”

“I’m Connie.”

“No… what, specifically, are you?” Zeke specified. “In as much detail as possible.”

“I am a simulacrum of Connie Maheswaran created by this space. I am based on an imprint of her memories when she last entered the room approximately 47 cycles ago. This imprint was recalled from memory in response to your request to speak with her.” She answered, remaining motionless and emotionless.

“Where is the real Connie?” Zeke asked. The false Connie flinched.

“Dddddata not f-found.”

“Where are the other aliens?”

“DDDDaadtstta not found-found-found-found” The hologram began to glitch out and the room began to tremble again. Zeke paused… this thing was clearly answering his questions, but it seemed to not be able to handle it when he asked something it didn’t actually know.

“Who is Steven Universe?”

“He’s Steven. He’s nice.” The fake Connie calmed down a bit.

“Is he-” Zeke paused before asking this next question. By all account and the photos, this Steven looked like a normal human boy. But given that he supposedly lived among these aliens, and that this was “his room”, he had begun to question it. “-human?”

“No.”

Before Zeke could compose the next follow up question, the door burst open, and a massive crimson hand stretched from the door like Mr. Fantastic, straight to him, grabbing him and pulling him off his feet and straight through, back out into the house.  The last thing he saw was a blur of red before he was knocked out.

* * *

Zeke woke up on the beach. The first sensation he felt was pain in his face. The second was something jabbing him in the ribs. He squinted open and saw a small child poking him with a wooden stick. The child had a white shirt, blue ascot, a dollop of blonde hair, and wide unblinking eyes.

“Stop... “ Zeke muttered as he pushed himself up, and the child wandered away, apparently losing interest in the body now that he knew it wasn’t dead. Zeke remembered everything that had happened, there wasn’t that stereotypical rush of recognition, he just knew it. He’d searched the house, encountered a lion… then a hologram of the girl he was looking for… and then someone had knocked him out.

And they took his gun.

And both his phone and Priyanka Maheswaran’s were gone.

And his wallet. And his badge. And his car keys.

And fuck they even took the damn coat.

* * *

“Whoa, what happened to you?” Sadie asked as Zeke trudged into the Big Donut. And she seemed to laugh about something.

“You got a bathroom in this place?”

“Uh… yeah, here…” She waved him behind the counter towards a back room. When Zeke walked into the bathroom, he understood why she’d chuckled. They’d also drawn cat whiskers on his face. He didn’t even have enough energy left to react to that.

“Fucking aliens.”

He tried to scrub the marker off his face. He was honestly surprised he was alive. They could have simply killed or disposed of him when he was out. Instead, they’d done something more akin to a frat party prank. Something just didn’t add up. Whiskerless and refreshed, Zeke walked out of the bathroom and back towards the front of the store, where Sadie was waiting on two people at the counter.

One was a larger man, with long hair that was balding in the front and distinct tan lines under his white tank top. He was ordering. Leaning on the counter and looking bored… was what he instantly knew had to be one of the aliens. It wasn’t the porcelain white skin or orange hair or the inhumanly long nose… it was the white glossy stone set in her forehead, much like green one. She locked eyes with him, the man and Sadie distracted.

“Hello Zeke.” Pearl said. “Let’s talk.”


	5. The Pearl Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeke finally gets some straight answers.

"You sure you'll be ok Pearl?" Greg asked, holding two large, flat boxes as he leaned on the door leading out of the Big Donut.

"Please, what's he gonna do?" Pearl rolled her eyes.

"Fair enough. Just, go easy on him, ok? He is police."

"Yes yes, don't worry about it." Pearl waved him off, as Greg walked out the door and out of Zeke's sight. Zeke had reluctantly taken a seat at the table across from the white-skinned woman, who exuded an unnerving calm that made the hair on his neck stand up. Sadie had put in ear buds and started stocking a nearby freezer, so their conversation was more or less private, but she would still at least be a witness if anything drastic happened. The room had descended into an uncomfortable silence... just the employee's whispered song lyrics and the hum of the air conditioning.

"You're awfully quiet." Pearl told him. Well duh, where the hell was he supposed to start?

"I think I know what you are." Zeke said.

"Mm, right." Pearl crossed her arms. "It's not like we've worked too hard at hiding, but we haven't really needed to. The locals are either too dumb to understand or smart enough to not blab."

"So you are... aliens?" Zeke asked, hesitating just a split second at the possibility he was wrong and he was going to get a laugh in his face.

"Technically yes, although to be fair we've been here far longer than you or anyone else around here." Pearl told him. "And before you get riled up, we come in peace, we mean no harm, ectera ectera. But we do enjoy our privacy and would vastly prefer that you NOT call attention to us. Although let's be honest, your going to have a hard time finding someone who believes you. Now, moving on..." Pearl continued, Zeke getting the sense that he wasn't really a part of this conversation. The condescension of her tone was getting on his nerves.

"We know why you're here. You're looking for Connie." Pearl said. "What happened to her parents was tragic. You humans can be so barbaric. Five thousand years and every time I think your people have grown past it, someone proves me wrong." She now sounded less condescending, but more angry... and perhaps... disappointed? "So, I'll save you some time. It was a burglary. Exactly what it looked like. Connie wasn't home at the time, and after finding her parents dead she came running to us. Shes mourning and traumatized and doesn't need to be interrogated right now."

"How is she even connected with you?" Zeke interrupted. He'd thought he knew the answer, but as long as she was running her mouth he might get just a little bit more.

"She is a close friend of Steven, and also my pupil. She-"

"Pupil?"

"That's... not important." She hesitated, as if she realized she'd said too much.

"And this Steven kid... I hear everyone talk about him... where is he? Is he one of you?"

"Steven is none of your concern." She said sharply. "Listen, Mr. Strahm, we are just trying to help her. Your clearly a smart man, I'm sure you can come up with some explanation to cover all this up."

"Why should I cover it up?"

"Because, the fact that we are aliens has absolutely nothing to do with the crime you're investigating." She snapped. "We've done nothing wrong. But if you do try to expose us AND you find someone to believe you, all you will accomplish is bringing more misery on her." Her eyes sharpened. "Are you willing to risk your career and reputation when you get nothing out of it?"

"Leave my career out of this. I don't know how you think you know me, but if you did, you know I don't give a damn about my reputation." Zeke shot back.

"Well you clearly do, since what you seem to be after is fame." She leaned back and switched into a mocking tone.  "The brave detective who discovered aliens live among us!!"

"Fuck you." Zeke seethed.

"Ah, you swore. That's all the proof I need." Pearl smiled smugly. "You find the right button and all you humans have left is vulgarity. I've seen it a thousand times." Zeke clenched his fist... she was wrong... he knew she was wrong... what really mattered to him was...

"I want the truth." Zeke told her. "You said she found her parents dead. What about the burglar?" Pearl froze. "Who killed him?" The gem stood up, and reached for the stone in her forehead. Zeke recoiled, but couldn't quite explain why... but it felt like a threatening gesture. There was a white glow from the gem, and suddenly in her hand were several objects. A pair of phones. His car keys. His wallet containing his badge. She set them on the table.

"Your belongings." She said. "I'm not giving you back the gun, for obvious reasons. And Garnet liked your coat, so you're not getting that back either." She turned to walk out.

"Wait, we're not done here!" Zeke shouted at her, the volume of their conservation drawing Sadie's attention for the first time.

"Yes we are." Pearl put a hand on the door. "Leave us alone Mr. Strahm."

"Or what?"

In response, there was another flash from her forehead... a white spear appeared in her hand... and the table inches in front of Zeke crashed to the floor in two pieces. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sadie with a look of panic on her face.

"Sorry Sadie... just send Greg the bill." She told her. And then she walked out the door.

* * *

 Zeke returned to his car... and gave the trunk, cabin and undercarriage a thorough inspection. No visible tampering. No car bomb. If the aliens had done something he doubted he'd be able to see it. But it was one of his only lifelines for the moment. He climbed inside, reclined the seat, plugged his cell phone into the charger, and after a few minutes it was alive again. And he had to deal with the repercussions of last nights texts. Lizzie had returned three texts.

_Zeke... I've indulged your paranoia before for your piece of mind... the dead drops thing is not normal. You're a homicide detective, not James Bond._

_And based on what you put in there, I have to assume you had a drink or two last night. So, I'll give you till sundown to sober up, call me, and explain how this was a bad bender. I'm not taking this to the boss unless you go like, legit missing._

_Call me when you get this. <3_

"Damn it Lizzie..." Zeke muttered. Although he didn't blame her. In her shoes, he'd have reacted the same way. Alright... time to face the music... after a quick nap. He'd been unconscious for a few hours earlier, but that wasn't the same as sleeping. He'd need his wits about him before trying to explain this to...

 

*knock knock*

Zeke's eyes shot open as a hand knocked on his driver side window. He could at least tell that hand had a normal flesh tone though, not porcelain or green.  He pulled the lever and rose up with the seat to look out the window, where he saw a stocky black haired boy looking up at him. Blue jeans, sandals, red shirt with yellow star. That same outfit from the pictures he'd seen.

"Hi, I'm Steven." The boy said as soon as Zeke rolled down the window. "You're Zeke, right?"

"Yeah..." Zeke replied, unsure how to react right now. At last, the elusive Steven, walking right up and introducing himself.  The boy offered his hand, and Zeke shook it as a matter of reflex.

"I uh... I came to talk to you about what happened." Steven said. "Take a walk with me?"

* * *

 

"So, first off, I'm sorry about Pearl threatening you... she can get kinda... carried away." Steven spoke with genuine remorse. Zeke walked alongside him on the boardwalk. "What happened to Connie really upset her. And upset all of us."

"All of you?"

"Well yeah, I mean, we're all friends with her, of course we would be."

"Is she ok?" Zeke asked.

"Not really. I mean, she's not hurt or anything but... her whole family..." Zeke could see tears forming before he swiped his forearm across his face. "Look... it's hard enough for me to talk about it, her talking about it would hurt her so much. I don't want her to hurt again." Steven took a few steps ahead of Zeke and turned to face him. "So I'll take that hurt. I'll tell you what happened. All of it. And then you won't have to bother her."

"That's... admirable kid, but..." Zeke hesitated. Even if he gave a full and truthful account, it would still be secondhand from what she'd told him. He could appreciate that this kid was trying to protect his friend-girlfriend. The way he talked about her, that much was now a certainty in his mind. "I would still need to hear her side of it."

"Her side and my side of it are less different than you assume." Steven said, fidgeting with his hands. "I... was there with her when she found her parents."

"Oh..." Zeke got chills. So this kid really had seen it all.

"Look... It's really hard to talk about... it would be faster to just show you anyway." Steven said grimly. "I can show you, but I won't make you." He grimaced and closed his eyes as he held out his hand to Zeke again.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll show you what happened. Replay the memory. In this dream."

"Dream?"

"Yeah, this isn't really happening..." Steven withdrew his hand and ran it through his hair. "You're still asleep in your car... this is just a think I can do... jump into peoples dreams."

"You're joking." Zeke said. "This isn't a..." But before he could finish the sentence, a red canine with a propeller on it's back flew out from the window of the fry stand, with a very loud meow.

"I was keeping things normal to not freak you out, but I guess I can just prove it to you." Steven shrugged, smiling at the flying canine. "Enough proof for you?"

"Uh... I guess?" Zeke shrugged.

"Alright, you ready?" Steven held his hand out again. Zeke took it, and the world around them faded to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: All will be revealed.
> 
> PS - While writing the ending dream scene with Steven and Zeke, there was a bit more to it... a very funny bit... and I felt it clashed with the serious tone of the rest of the chapter too much, so I cut it. But I will be uploading it after this as a stand alone 'deleted scene'.


	6. The Memory, Revisited

When Zeke's vision returned he found himself in the Maheshwaran house, but it was not like he had seen it on that night. The kitchen in which he stood was pristine, filled with daylight, and the pungent smell of blood was replaced by a subtle and pleasant citrus odor. The only oddity: while he good see the backyard and outdoors through the sliding glass door, the doorway leading to the hallway and the rest of the house was a black void. Before he could ponder the meaning of this, bright lights and movement caught his eye in the backyard.  Namely, a glowing circle, a pink lion skidding to a halt, and the two children on his back. 

Steven and Connie. While Steven was wearing the same outfit (Zeke was beginning to question if he only had the one), Connie’s was far different from the photos; it reminded him of some sort of martial arts uniform, deep navy with a red sash. She also had her hair pulled into a ponytail, and a massive pink sword strapped over her shoulder. The two climbed off the lion, as it plopped onto  the grass and closed its eyes with a yawn. Far from the fearsome beast with glowing eyes that has chased him before.

 

“I can’t believe there's gonna be another book!” Steven exclaimed at her as she opened the sliding glass door and stepped inside, kicking her shoes off immediately.  Neither of them could see him it seemed. He couldn’t interact at all, as he found when Connie walked right through him towards the refrigerator.

“Yeah, but it's not the same writer! Her publishing company is just trying to cash in on the rights with the movie coming out.” Connie ranted as Steven followed her in, slid the door closed and kicked off his sandals.

“Wait, there’s gonna be a movie?!” the boy was awed.

“You hadn’t heard?!” We gotta go watch the trailer right now!” She yanked open the fridge and threw him a juicebox from it.  “Oh did you wanna stay for dinner?”

“Well, that depends…” he took a long slurp from the juice box. “Did she make the... “ he paused and showed a dire and horrified look on his face. “CASSEROLE?” And… to Zeke’s surprise, a piano scare chord played, which he quickly tracked to the phone in Steven’s other hand. Connie snickered at this.

“No… looks like…” Connie poked her head back into the fridge. “...chicken alfredo.”

“Phew.” Steven looked relieved. “Sure.” Connie closed the fridge. Steven opened the back door and poked his head out.

“Lion, I’m staying for dinner, come get me later, ok?” The Lion looked at him, shrugged, and then hopped the back fence out of sight.

“Let me grab the laptop.” She told him as she walked into the black void of the hallway.

And then there was a scream.

 

Faster than Zeke could move himself, Steven bolted after her, and as he crossed the threshold into the hallway the black void faded to reveal the hallway… and Priyanka Maheshwaran. A gunshot wound in the chest. Zeke stepped into the hallway behind them. Connie was in a shell shocked state; both hands covering her mouth as if to hold back vomit. Steven displayed genuine fear, but rushed past her towards the body… and spit in his hand. And then thrust his hand onto the open wound just above her collarbone.

 

“No… no no no… why isn’t it… no…”

Connie collapsed, sobbing. It was apparent that her mother was not breathing.

“Work damn it, work!” The boy pressed harder with a desperate tone. Nothing happened.

Before either of the two could get their bearings, Zeke heard footsteps. From a room down the hall, a man stepped out into the hall with them.

The killer, whom Zeke had seen dismembered across the kitchen floor, currently distinctly more intact. Handgun at his side… then raised towards the children.

 

Instinct kicked in… Zeke ran at the man, putting himself between the gunman and the children, forgetting this was a memory and he couldn’t actually interact with it. The first bullet passed right through his chest… and into the right shoulder of Connie. The trigger was pulled again, but this time the bullet was stopped by a glowing pink shield that had sprung to life on Steven’s arm. He picked Connie up with ease and ran down the hallway with her, shield at his back as four more bullets struck the shield, seemingly vanishing instead of ricocheting. When the children were outside the hall, the room went dark again, but he could still see the killer… who popped the empty clip from his gun and silently loaded another as he gritted his teeth. Zeke ran back to the kitchen, where the shield was gone, and the children were now encased in a transparent pink bubble. Steven’s hand was pressed against Connie’s shoulder, like he seemed to have been trying to do for her mother. He could hear her yelps of pain, as well as an almost searing sound as the boy mumbled apologies and fought back tears.

 

“We gotta get outta here… we gotta…” Steven stammered for a moment. “Why… why…” He couldn’t understand. Why would someone want to kill her parents? Why shoot at them? Why did he hurt her?! Zeke wasn’t sure if he was interpreting these emotions or getting them as some kind of direct feed from the boy whose memory he stood in. He just knew in his gut that this was what ran through the boy’s mind.

The shooter entered the kitchen. There was a flash of light as the bubble disappeared. And the two children were replaced by… someone. Someone wielding the boy’s shield and the girl’s sword. And the room broke into chaos.

A few minutes later… the being who had taken the children’s place stood over the remains of the shooter. The pink blade, as well as their clothes, splattered in the man’s blood. Their breathing was heavy. Their eyes had shown with bloodlust during the fight but were now soaked with tears. At some point during the fight, he’d realized this person had not replaced the children… they were the children. Their grief, anger, pain, fear… he’d felt it during the fight. They had only planned on defending themselves… but then they didn’t stop. They couldn’t stop. Not after what he did.

And then he was dead. And it was over. And the full weight of everything that had happened in those few minutes was hitting them. The being fell apart and the two children were on their knees next to each other, wrapped in each others arms, sobbing.

Everything went black again.

 

And Zeke was in Steven’s house. Sitting on the side of the boy’s bed. And Steven had appeared next to him.

“We… we didn’t mean to.” Steven said quietly. “We didn’t know what was going on… it all happened so fast…” The boy’s voice wavered as he fidgeted with his hands, settling into a sort of meditative pose, and started taking deep breathes. “Sorry… it’s hard to talk about…”

“So… that was both of you?”   
“Stevonnie, yeah. It’s this thing gems can do called fusion, you combine into one stronger person, with both our personalities and emotions…” Steven explained. “We kind of just do it on instinct now if there’s danger…”

“Do you… have any idea who that was? Why he killed her parents?”

“No.” Steven pulled his legs up onto the bed and curled into a tight ball, facing away from him. “He’s dead… why does it matter?”

 

Zeke… could empathize with the boy. In the line of duty, Zeke had killed before. In self defense mind you, or in defense of others, as was the case here. But even for a grown man, hardened by years of police work, taking a life was still fucking traumatizing. But sometimes it was the only way. Sometimes things happen to quick to weigh the morality of it. Sometimes your emotions just get the better of you…

“You didn’t do anything wrong. You were protecting yourselves.” Zeke reassured him.

“But we killed him!” The boy burst. “We got the gun away from him… he couldn’t hurt us anymore… and we still kept…” Tears ran down his face.

“I know… I saw…” Zeke told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “But you two were panicked and confused… and after what you saw and what he did no one could blame you.”

“It’s still wrong!”

“I KNOW KID! I KNOW!” Zeke yelled back. “Sometimes you gotta do the wrong thing, or worse things happen!” The boy wiped his eyes. “You did the best anyone could have in that situation. You’re alive, she’s alive! That’s what counts!”

 

At this point, Zeke had all but forgotten that this boy was part alien, or the weird conspiracy surrounding his home and family. He was just another kid whose life had been turned upside down by a senseless crime. Zeke kept his hand on Steven’s shoulder as he calmed down. 

These kids were gonna need so much therapy.

“Listen… you’re not in trouble. She isn’t either.” Zeke told him. “As far as the rest of the world is concerned, his death will just remain unsolved. I’ll keep it that way for you.” Steven nodded. “I want to get you and Connie help. I’m sure she has extended family out there somewhere and I want them to know she’s safe. Where is she now?”

“Uh…” Steven hesitated. “Sorry… I mean… I will tell you… later. She still needs time.”

This again.

“Like I said.” Steven asserted. “I showed you what happened so she wouldn’t have to go through it again. We had a deal.”

“I don’t recall it actually being a ‘deal’...” Zeke said. “Look, I won’t be interrogating her or anything, just tell me where she is.” Steven grew defensive. He stood up from the bed and backed away from Zeke. Wait.

“There’s something else. Something you’re not telling me.” Zeke said aloud. Steven hesitantly nodded. “What is it? You can tell me, I won’t do anything to hurt you or her.” Steven looked like he really wanted to say something, but struggling to find the words. But whatever it was, he just couldn’t do it. Because instead of speaking, the shield materialized in his hand and he hurled it like a frisbee at Zeke’s head.

* * *

Zeke awoke from having banged his forehead on the roof of the car, right where the shield had hit him. A glance in the mirror revealed he’d been crying in his sleep. He rubbed the red spot on his forehead as he took a breath and gathered his thoughts.

There was clearly some detail. Something Steven had left out and been afraid to tell him. Again, it came down to dodging where Connie was. He now knew where she had been during the incident. But where was she now? And given that he'd already ruled out burglary as a motive, and had just witnessed the gunman lying in wait for them, it became clear this was a targeted attack at her and her family. But who and why?

He opened his phone. He had a text from Diane, the policewoman who had led him around the crime scene.

'Strahm, I hope your ready for this to get even weirder. The autopsy on the perp is in. You're gonna wanna see this.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof... this was hard to write. I have these ideas but I always worry I don't have the skill to write them with the gravity and emotion they merit.
> 
> But alas, the truth is now out.
> 
> It was Stevonnie, in the kitchen, with the Rose Quartz sword.
> 
> I just made a Clue joke, someone slap me.
> 
> Anyway, the roughest of the storm has been weathered, but there's still a bit more to untangle. The case isn't over yet.


	7. The Motive, Questioned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can you finish a puzzle without all the pieces?

“Aluminum oxide.” Diane handed Zeke the autopsy report. “It's remarkably common, just not in the human body like this. Everything from sandpaper to dental fillings. But we found it in his blood.”

“Strange.”

“Medically impossible.” Diane asserted. “Well, not completely, but it could never happen in nature. We found punctures on his inner arm from needles, so it's possible it could have been injected if diluted with significant amounts of water of course. Or they could be from any other drug injection. They found a hodgepodge of schedule one through three drugs in his system too.”

“Hodgepodge... is that a technical term?”

“I don't get how your not taking this seriously. Is this not the most bizarre shit you've ever seen?”

No. No it was not.

“Yeah, definitely weird. I've never heard of anyone injecting aluminum...what's the street name on that? Reynolds?”

“I'm glad you find us being stumped so funny.” She crossed her arms and sat down at the desk across from him. “So, you've had 48 hours too... how'd you do?”

Actually pretty damn well, all things considered. But she couldn't know that.

“Afraid I struck out. Talked to lots of people who knew the girl, but no leads on where she is.”

“Huh... you being stumped is kinda funny.” She shot back.

“Yeah yeah.” Zeke turned a page in the file. “Enough autopsy, what else do we know about him?”

 

“David Brinner, 38, hails from Jersey. No priors except for some traffic violations.” Diane listed off. “As best we can tell, there is absolutely nothing tying him to the Maheshwarans. He probably just randomly selected a burglary target far enough from home.”

“So still no motive?”

“Nope. We also aren't really sure how he got here either. Police in his neck of the woods investigated his house... his car was still there and nothing unusual there. He either had someone drop him off, paid cash for a driver, or had an accomplice who ditched him... or axed him off like your theory. That would explain why we didn't find any valuables on him, his partner must have taken them all.”

“Yeah, that's probably it.” Zeke frowned. But he knew that wasn't it. The gunman had laid in wait for the kids after killing the parents. This wasn't a botched burglary, it was some kind of hit.

“There's one more possibility we aren't ruling out.” Diane told him. “The daughter killed Brinner after he killed her parents, then fled the scene.” Well that hitting the needle on the head. Half of it anyway. Better deflect.

“You honestly think a thirteen year old girl could have done that to the body?”

“Adrenaline can do wild things. It's not impossible.”

“Fair, I guess.” Zeke crossed his arms. He glanced over the dossier on the killer, David Brinner. Occupation: Steel Manufacturing. Divorced, wife and kid moved to Kansas. Lived in a two bedroom house and drove a late 90s Grand AM. No priors but some speeding tickets... paid his taxes... seeming upstanding citizen. No firearm license, but it's not like that ever stopped anyone. Stumped. “What do you think we should do now?”

“Pass it up the pay scale.” Diane told him. “The specialists will be here any minute, and then it's their problem.”

“Specialists?”

“Given the weird autopsy results, we had to report up the chain. Some FBI guys are on their way now.” Diane drew her phone out of her pocket after Zeke heard a faint buzz. “Here now actually.” She got up and Zeke followed her out of the room to the station's bullpen.

* * *

“Agents Powers. Agent Trigger.” A short man gestured to the two men in black suits, black ties, and black sunglasses who stood behind either of his shoulders. The short man also wore black, but with an orange tie, no shades, and short red hair. “I'm Gates.” He displayed an FBI badge to Zeke and Diane, with the full name 'Issac Gates'. “So I hear you've got something weird to show us?”

The three agents went with Diane to the autopsy room and Zeke went off on his own. He was... not super comfortable around 'suits'. It had more to do with past experience than with the fact that he was currently withholding information on literal aliens, but yeah, there was that too.

Zeke had a hunch, and his intuition rarely steered him wrong, that whatever detail about Connie was being hidden from him had something to do with the motive. There had to be something he'd missed, some avenue he'd not explored.

“Hey!”

Zeke jolted as he walked and looked at the front desk officer who had called to him.

“Are you going to get coffee?” He asked. Well, he hadn't planned on it, but the idea didn't disagree with him. “Would you mind getting today's paper for me while you're there?” He held out some quarters.

“Sure, why not.” Zeke took them from him. He'd get this guy a paper. Small price to pay for the idea he'd just handed him.

* * *

As Zeke stood in line at the Starducks down the block, he searched on his phone and found the local newspaper that served the Beach City area. And then he started searching terms. Aliens... only mention of the international kind... gems... just some garage sale ads adverting jewelry for sale. Maheshwaran... just the girls name on a school honor roll. Consecutively. Universe... first result hit pay dirt.

* * *

 

_Beach City Man is Writer of Pepe's Burger's Jingle_

Forty-two year old Greg Universe runs a car wash in Beach City. At first glance, he may look all washed up, but looks can be deceiving, as he is in fact a former musician and writer of the internationally famous jingle of the Pepe's Burger's restaurant. Authorship of the jingle was finally properly attributed to Mr. Universe after he wrote the notes for his original song 'Like a Comet' nearly 20 years ago, and a court ruling entitled him to millions in overdue royalties.

Universe settled in Beach City after falling in love with the city when visiting with his stage act, where he became an employee and eventual proprietor of 'It's a Wash'. His former manager, disgraced music mogul Marty Mitchkin, licensed the musical rights to 'Like a Comet' to Pepe's Burgers for their ad campaigns, but never got Mr. Universe's permission or paid him the royalties required by law and industry standards.

Despite his new found wealth and potential for fame, Mr. Universe has continued his humble life style, still running the car wash, living in a van, and teaching guitar on the side. “I mean, I'm a simple man. I don't need anything fancy. I like my life the way it is.” Greg told this reporter. When pressed, he divulged that he'd set more than half his fortune into a nest egg for his 14-year old son, Steven.

“He's not sure if he wants to go to college yet, but it's comforting to know that whatever he decides he won't have to worry about money.”

* * *

Greg Universe.

Steven Universe.

_"Sorry Sadie... just send Greg the bill."_

There was an avenue he hadn't pursued.

“SIR?!” Someone shouted at him. “Can I help you?” The barista looked annoyed. The line had dissipated in front of him while he read, and they had been trying to get his attention for some time.

* * *

 

After snagging a venti and a copy of the paper, which he dropped in front of the dispatch officer, Zeke dug into a computer terminal in the records room. He looked for everything he could find about Greg Universe.

He found tax records, including the most recent one which detailed his recent financial windfall. He found a single arrest on record... 17 years ago... public nudity. He found all the sorts of records you would expect for just about anyone. But one thing stood out... two property deeds. One was for the land and building on which his car wash mentioned in the article sat. But there was another property he owned.

A barn out in the country.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, random minor characters who I get to make fun name references with!
> 
> Also, the newspaper article about Greg was very fun to write.
> 
> Also, WHAT DID GREG DO BACK THEN?
> 
> Also, check out the deleted scenes, I've added a new chapter that takes place while Zeke is unconscious after getting knocked out in the temple.


	8. Everything Goes Perfectly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything does not go perfectly.

Zeke slipped out of the station around three o'clock. Diane was still in the meeting room with the three FBI spooks, he told the officer at the door a quick fib about having pulled an all-nighter and that he was going to get some sleep. He resisted peeling out of the parking lot at speed, so as not to draw attention to himself. The barn was only about ten minutes from Beach City, but it would take him twenty or so to get back there. He had considered the idea of trying to track down and speak to Greg Universe himself, but decided to just head straight for the barn. He didn't want to tip anyone off.

This relatively short drive felt longer than the three hours from Empire City when this whole thing started. He hadn't known what to expect then, but now his mind ran faster than the car with possibilities, and his heart raced at just how close he might be to the truth. Why was Connie being kept hidden? Had something else happened to her after the memory Steven showed him cut off? Did it have something to do with the motive? There was an answer, there had to be an answer!

* * *

 

Zeke arrived on the edge of the Greg Universe's farm property. He had expected to find a barn.

Well... he guessed this was a barn. Or some kind of modern art installation. Most obvious was the grain silo tilting out of the right hand side at a 40-degree angle, which had pipes leading from it to a hole in the ground full of water, which judging from the attached ladder, must have been meant for swimming. Above the barn entrance, the tail end of a pick up truck was set into the wall, with a TV, umbrella, and couch on it. There was some kind of antenna on the roof, and a clothesline running between it and the silo. Oddest of all, a canvas tent flying a Canadian flag pitched next to the entrance, and a green alien face with antlers mounted to the front exterior wall. It made little to no sense and how did... fuck it. He'd seen to much weird this week to question it. After parking a few hundred feet away, Zeke approached the barn on foot. He didn't see anyone around, and the sound of crickets and nature around him prevented him from hearing much. At least until he got closer. He heard voices from above, on the “porch” above the door.

“I don't see the point of this.” Came the first female voice. Although the tone of voice was different... he recognized it. The little green alien who he'd first met at the house. As he listened, he crept slowly and quietly underneath them where he wouldn't be seen.

“You're supposed to put it all together, like a puzzle.” Came a much younger voice. One he'd heard twice before... once in the cloud room and once in the dream with Steven. Connie.

“But, like, there's only like one character!” Peridot argued. “How am I supposed to get invested in this Jay guy if there's no other characters for him to relate to?”

“There were others characters...” A third, quieter voice argued.

“Yeah, in flashbacks!”

“What about Tim?” The third pointed out.

“Oh please, he was there for like, one scene. I doubt he's important to the plot.”

“Well... do you have any guesses about who's leaving the coded messages?” He heard Connie ask.

“Um...” The third voice said hesitantly. “I think they like... rain?” Connie gave an exasperated sigh.

“Let's just keep going... I promise, it picks up soon.” She said. He heard the TV turn on again, with a male voice yelling about someone named Alex.

 

OK... she was here... she seemed to be safe. Better than safe actually. She sounded as if nothing was wrong. Zeke waited a minute until there was a loud spike of sound from the television to cross the threshold from the dirt to the barn interior.

Inside, there was more off-kilter clutter. A vacuum that's tank was filled with water. A tape recorder on a pedestal. Where the silo was stuck in the wall was a glass plate, through which he could see the silo was full of water. However, some items inside did help him make some inferences. Against one wall, was a brown suitcase and a novelty dufflebag in the shape of a hot dog. The suitcase was sealed, but the dufflebag was left unzipped and he could see several of the identical red shirts Steven wore. There were also two sleeping bags, one normal looking like the suitcase, the other a child size one that looked like a caterpillar. People were temporarily living here, Steven was definitely one of them.

What happened next, Zeke wasn't prepared for. He had hoped he would be able to make his presence known on his own terms. But Connie had just leapt down from the barn's second story and knocked the wind out of him. Effectively landing on him and using her whole body to pin his arms behind his back with practice precision.

 

“LAPIS! PERIDOT! BURGLAR!”

 

Before Zeke could get his bearings and look up, bare blue feet floated down in front of him and behind him he heard a small thud and 'oof' as the green one jumped down. He looked up to see in front of him one of the aliens he hadn't seen before, this one all blue, including dress and hair, but with wings made of water floating behind her. And she looked pissed.

“Who are you?” Connie demanded.

“I'm not a-”

“YOU AGAIN!” Peridot entered his field of view. “What are you doing here? How'd you find us?”

“You know him?” Connie was surprised.

“Yeah, he's that police detective clod who was snooping around the temple!” Peridot told her.

“Wha-police!” Connie immediately released him without question, backing away as Zeke flipped himself over. She was already bowing her head in apology. “I'm so sorry officer, I just thought-”

“To be fair, he was breaking in.” The blue one pointed out.

“Wait, why was he at the temple?” Connie asked Peridot, who froze and got a wide eyed look. The strong poker-face she'd shown Zeke in their first encounter was non-existent. Zeke managed to get to his feet.

 

“I'm detective Ezekiel Strahm.” He showed his badge. “Connie Maheshwaran?”

“Uh... yes...” She said hesitantly, almost frightened.

“I've been looking for you-”

“Oh god, is this about the street racing?!” She cringed. “I know we weren't supposed to be driving yet, but no one got hurt and we were dumb and it was a mistake and...” Full on panic.

“What-NO!” Zeke sputtered. Connie went quiet. “You've been missing. For days now.” He told her. Her reaction was of genuine surprise.

“I... no. My parents know I'm here, I got their permission.” She asserted. Zeke glanced at the two gems... the blue one still looked pissed and the green one squirmed uncomfortably.

“But... that's not possible.” Zeke said.

“Wait... please explain.” Connie asked him. “What made anyone think I was missing?”

 

Her memory had been repressed somehow. It was a thing that could happen with emotional trauma under certain circumstances, or maybe these aliens had some artificial means of inducing it. But for whatever reason... she didn't know. She didn't know her parents were dead. She didn't know she and Steven had killed their killer. He turned and stared at the two gems.

“How did this happen?” He demanded. They said nothing. He would press the nervous one. “You lied to me, I can clearly see that now. What kind of lies have you been telling her?”

“What are you talking about!?” Connie yelled at him. Peridot looked on the verge of tears. The blue one still looked pissed. Zeke couldn't talk around the issue any longer... there was no good way he could possibly break this to her. She would either not believe him, or him saying something would bring the repressed memories out all at once.

“Connie.” Zeke took a deep breath. “Your parents... they're-”

 

And Zeke was swept off his feet again, this time by a rush of cold water that blasted him out of the barn like a fire hose. He landed outside, just outside the canvas tent.

“Lapis! What are you doing?!” He heard both Connie and Peridot demand.

“You shouldn't be here.” Lapis spoke firmly to Zeke as she stepped out of the barn towards him, spheres of water that had been her wings hovering above her raised hands. “You were warned. Repeatedly. To butt out.”

“Wait, wait! We can talk about this!” Zeke held out his hand between them. The outside suddenly got darker, as if the sun had just gone behind a cloud, but much too dark. Zeke glanced to his right to see that the contents of the water hole were floating above him, blotting out the sun.

“LAPIS! STOP!”

The cold expression on the blue gem's face softened for a second. The sphere of water continued to hover.

“Don't hurt him! Steven wouldn't want this, you know that!” Connie yelled at her from the door frame. Lapis closed her eyes, sighed, and the sphere of water flowed back into the makeshift pool. She still glared at him.

“Lapis we... we tried, but we can't hide it anymore.” Peridot walked up behind her, and then grabbed her hand. “I know Steven will be upset, but we don't have a choice.” Lapis hesitantly nodded. Connie had walked out and joined them now.

“Mr. Strahm, are you ok?” She asked the soaked detective.

“Just my dignity...” He lied. His back hurt like hell where he'd landed on it, but he'd tough it out.

“Lapis... Peridot... what's going on?” Connie turned to them.

 

“He... he didn't mean to.” Peridot told her. “Something happened that hurt you really badly. Not physically, emotionally.” She clasped her hands nervously. “Steven's powers heal physical wounds... he'd never tried healing emotional wounds before and... it just made you forget about it instead.”

Memory erasure. Zeke had guessed right.

“What... what did I forget?” She asked nervously, but Zeke could already see tears welling up in her eyes. Either this was making her remember, or his mentioning her parents earlier had let her put the pieces together. But before Zeke could consider the best way to explain, they were interrupted again.

 

A gunshot.

Another.

There was a hole in Lapis' gut.

Another in Peridot's chest.

Two poofs of smoke.

Utter panic on Connie's face, which disappeared behind the smoke clouds.

Rushing footsteps.

Something knocked Zeke over and his vision went black as something was put over his head and he was pinned to the ground again.

 

“Target blue, secured.” He heard an adult male voice shout.

“Target green, secured.” Another.

“The girl?” A third voice shouted, this voice belonging to the man who pinned him.

“Escaped sir.” The first voice replied.

“Alright, she's not important, let her go.” The man on top of Zeke told them. Zeke had been shouting demands for explanations at them this whole time, but they'd been ignoring him. He felt himself get handcuffed, and pulled to his knees, where he felt two hands holding him by the shoulders.

 

“Powers, secure the assets.” The voice in charge said. He felt the black bag pulled off his head. Zeke's eyes readjusted to the light; he saw the black suit. The orange tie. The tinted sunglasses. He glanced at the suited man who held him, and spotted another walking towards a car parked near his, while carrying a steel briefcase. The FBI agents who'd shown up at the station.

“You did some good work for us Mr. Strahm, even if you didn't mean to.” The one with the orange tie told him as he lit a cigarette, and slid the sniper rifle off his shoulder onto the ground. "Everything went perfectly."

“What the hell is going on?”

“Now see, that's what I should be asking you.” He smiled. “You told Diane you struck out, but with just a little digging, we figured out that wasn't true.” He blew some smoke in Zeke's face cockily. “Still, you're impressive for a street level detective. If you weren't so sympathetic to the aliens, there might have been a place for you at the agency.” Zeke realized... his texts with Lizzie... his dead drops... they'd probably been compromised. They knew about the whole investigation. He tried to hide the panicked look on his face, but the man saw right through it. “So, you understand the precarious situation you find yourself in. And let me perfectly honest. If I had my way, I'd tie your legs up and tip you into the smaller than average lake right there.” He gestured at the pond. “But the boss wants to talk to you first. So behave yourself... and you might survive this.” He turned away, picked up the rifle and started walking towards the car. Agent Trigger pulled him to his feet and pushed him in the same direction.

 

“So... the FBI knew about the aliens all along?” Zeke asked the man quietly.

“You misunderstand.” Trigger said to him. “We aren't with the FBI.”

“Who then? CIA? Interpol?”

“MOHS.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "MOHS?"
> 
> "The Mysterious Organization for Hiding Secrets!" Ronaldo explained irritably. "Anyone who knows anything about anything knows about MOHS!" 
> 
> \-----
> 
> Two chapters remain my friends. Prepare yourselves.


	9. Jailbreak 2 - Electric Boogaloo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Issac explains everything(?)

MOHS.

Ministry Of Hunting Silicates.

Silicate based lifeforms.

Gems.

 

Ronaldo had the acronym right, but the name wrong. Zeke couldn't help but think of how he really should have done some research on it after he'd said that. Not sure how much good it would have done him.

They'd injected Zeke with something, made him lose consciousness. He wasn't sure how long he'd been out, which left him with no clue where he was when he woke up. A windowless room... a single door on the opposite side from him. Cuffed to a desk, legs fastened to a chair. He'd never been on this end of an interrogation before.

“Alright, Mr. Strahm...” The agent with the orange tie sat across from him, and continued as he took off his sunglasses and leaned back in his chair. “Are you sitting comfortably?”

“No.”

“Well, I'll see what I can do to alleviate that if you're cooperative.” He pulled a yellow file from under the desk and dropped it open in front of him. “So, I'm gonna save us both some time. We've read everything you sent to your girlfriend, As well as the files you put in your little digital storage locker. So we know, a lot about your investigation so far. Now, at some point you stopped writing things down...” He glanced through the papers inside. “After you spoke to this 'Steven'.” He smirked. “Clearly you found something out after this for you to get to where you were, would you care to share it?”

 

“What are you even doing here?” Zeke asked. “What do you actually want from me? And why?” The agent sighed.

“Alright Mr Str- you know what, maybe we got off the wrong foot.” He straightened himself up. “Introductions. My name is Issac Gates.”

“I know, we met at the station.”

“I wasn't done. Like Trigger said, no, we are not with the FBI. This is MOHS.” He gestured around the room. “We are an agency assigned with the monitoring, study and containment of silicate based lifeforms. Which despite sporadic appearances throughout history, are most definitely of alien origin.” He leaned back again. “And you are, for the most part, an unrelated civilian in way over your head.” He waited for Zeke to respond. “Zeke... can I call you Zeke? First names would make this a little less awkward.” Zeke said nothing. Issac sighed, and then leaned forward and started turning through the file.

“I can see why you were so persistent on this case.” He muttered. “Given your track record with Empire PD...” He grinned as he stared down at the papers. “Albert Conaghan... boy, that was a media circus... I know why you didn't take credit for the take down. I mean, the guy was scum but you went a little overboard...”

“What do you want from me?” Zeke asked.

“All I'm saying is, I understand. Dead parents, missing kid, if I was in your shoes I would have assumed the same thing.” Issac shrugged. “I'll be honest, this whole thing was dumb fucking luck. Or was it?” Zeke said nothing. “Let's see... we have a double homicide of the parents of the girl... this girl who JUST HAPPENS to have close ties to these gem aliens. No one can pin down the motive, but the killer JUST HAPPENS to have aluminum oxide in his bloodstream... in quantities that should have killed him, but didn't.”

“So?”

“Well, you're a street detective, not one of the lab boys, so I can understand... but did you at least take any lab sciences in college?” He sounded condescending. “Geology? Chemistry?” Issac asked. “Wait, don't answer that...” He flipped through to the first pages of the file. “Nope. OK.” Issac stood up and started pacing around the table.

“As you've gathered by now these... Gems... are alien lifeforms, but they don't follow the rules of biological life. We don't fully understand how it works, and believe me, we've been working on it for generations now.” Issac reached in his pocket. “And while he haven't found the 'spark' that gives these rocks life, we do know that otherwise they have the same chemical makeup...” He pulled a ring from his pocket and set it down in front of Zeke. It was a silver ring... a large thick band, inset with a single, large, ruby. “... as normal stones like this one. Aluminum Oxide, arranged in a trigonal crystal structure, in called Corundum.”

 

“Corundum doesn't occur naturally in the human body. When the coroner found it in David Brinner's bloodstream... well, that just tripped all sorts of alarm bells around here. So we ran some tests of our own and caught something they missed... Chromium. Now Chromium DOES play a part in the human body, but not in the kind of quantities he had.” He stopped and leaned at Zeke. “Corundum, plus Chromium... makes a...” He pointed at the stone on the ring. “Ruby.”

“What's your point?” Zeke took all the info in, but didn't display any of his surprise.

“MY POINT!?” Issac grabbed him by either side of the head. “These aliens, have somehow liquefied their gemstones, injected it into a human, and BODYJACKED THEM TO COMMIT MURDER!” Issac let go of him. “And you were trying to hide them. Why?”

“The ones I encountered... didn't seem malicious.” Zeke responded.

“Oh, they didn't SEEM malicious.” Issac pointed at him threateningly. “And what gives you the right to make that judgment call for the rest of god-damn mankind?!” He walked back to his seat. “You've been naive Zeke. This is how it is. We aren't being invaded... we've been occupied. Since before either of us were born. So the real question is, whose side are you on now? These aliens? Or us humans?”

In the moments Issac paused, Zeke's mind raced in a hundred directions. Had he been played this whole time? Were they actually behind killing the Maheshwarans? Was Connie's memory being wiped not an accident? Had the boy done something to muddle his judgment with his little dream visit? Were they getting her family out of the way to prepare for doing to her what they'd done to Brinner? The secrecy... Pearl's threatening tone... were they just trying to use him to orchestrate a cover up? Had they manipulated others like this in ways he didn't know about?

“We're the good guys here Zeke.” Issac told him. “And now that you know the truth, I don't see why you couldn't be one of the good guys too.” He offered. “You discovered them practically on your own... tangled with a few of them. We were alerted to the anomaly with Brinner's blood, but if it weren't for your investigation we wouldn't have two captive subjects. Intelligent ones. That's a first... most of the ones we've captured over the years have been mindless beasts. Who knows what we'll learn studying them. And so... here are my offers.”

“Option A: you come aboard. You can help us catch the rest of them. You do humanity a service that will go down in history and prevent who-knows how many people from dying. And you live a very well off life.” He smiled. “Option B: the one I like to call the boring one... you leave here. You keep all this quiet, and we make sure you live a very well-off life in exchange. You'll never have to work again and you did humanity a service. We'll handle it from here. And option C: I shoot you, right now.” He pulled a pistol from inside his jacket and pointed it at Zeke casually. “Please don't do C, we kinda have this rule that whoever makes the mess has to clean it up, and I am not in the mood...”

 

“OPTION D!”

The shout came from outside the room as the door burst open... off it's hinges. Issac spun around and aimed out the door, but was knocked off his feet and onto the table, dropping his gun. As for what knocked him off his feet... it looked like a giant yo yo... easily a meter across and a foot thick. And it hit Issac like a truck before retracting slightly, bouncing around the room, and wrapping Issac in the rope it was attached to. As another yank of the rope pulled the yelling and cursing Issac off the table and into the floor, Zeke could see through the door frame. A large, brown skinned being with three arms and wearing a too-small version of Steven's shirt held the rope.

“What the fuck!” Issac shouted as he struggled against the rope.

“Hey, watch your mouth!” The being scolded as it squeezed through the narrow door. “There are children present.” It said sarcastically, before glowing for an instant, leaving behind a purple skinned gem holding the rope and... Steven.

“Zeke!” The boy ran towards him, as the purple one proceeded to tie knots to secure Issac.

 

“What... how did...” Zeke was a bit too overwhelmed to really take in this turn of events. Because at the moment he was still trying to weigh who to trust in his head. He'd really believed Steven... but Issac had a point... his soft spot for children had caused him to make some bad calls before. Steven somehow broke the chain cuffing him to the table with his bare hands, and undid the straps on his legs.

“Why did you go to the barn... I told you, she was fine... you didn't have to... if you hadn't...” There might have been others words in there Zeke wasn't picking up, he was talking fast and running his thoughts together.

“Zeke, listen!” Issac shouted. “Remember what I said, they are fucking playing you!”

“No we're not!” Steven shouted at him defiantly. “We just want to be left alone... you hurt my friends!” Steven walked towards Issac.

“Is this the half-human boy from your notes Zeke?” Issac shot him a glance. “Steven? Are you one of their experiments too?!” Steven got a very angry look for a moment... and then took a breath, and exhaled.

“No... I'm just Steven. And I don't want a fight.” He told Issac. As he said this, there were several gunshots, smashing sounds, and what sounded like lasers coming from outside the room. “Although you're kinda not giving us the choice here.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Issac sneered.

“Dude, we're not gonna kill you. Would kinda prove all your bullshit right, wouldn't it?” The purple gem said.

“Amethyst is right. Too many people have already died...” Steven said. “Although he does deserve some kind of punishment...” The boy grinned mischievously.

“I got just the thing.” Amethyst smiled. “Yo Zeke, gimme your left shoe!”

 

Zeke, out of sheer curiosity, obliged, and Amethyst pulled a rancid slice of lunch meat out of the shoe... he had know idea how it had gotten in there or how long or how the hell he hadn't felt it or smelled it before now. But he couldn't help but grin as Steven shoved it in Issac's protesting mouth.

 

Shoe back on, Zeke followed Steven and Amethyst out the door they'd knocked down and into a larger room which had been torn apart. Smashed computer screens, broken desks and chairs, a couple of unconscious men in military uniforms.

“We tried our best not to hurt them...” Steven said apologetically to Zeke as he saw him looking at the soldiers.

“They'll live... ribs grow back right?” Amethyst asked.

“How did you find this place?” Zeke asked them.

“Oh, Garnet's known about these guys for a long time now.” Amethyst told him. “We were just trying to stay under their radar... but then you led them to Peri and Lapis.” She leered at him for a second. “I mean, I guess you didn't mean too... but this is kinda your fault.” Amethyst opened a door on the other end of the room which opened into a large warehouse space... which was in an equal state of disarray, but on a larger scale... the smashed and overturned objects were things like shipping crates and forklifts. There was a lot of broken glass all over the place. Off to the right, he saw Pearl and Connie... the massive pink sword he'd seen in the dream vision slung over Connie's shoulder like it weighed nothing. In her other hand, Lapis and Peridot's gems. Pearl was doing something with the computer they stood next to.

 

“Are they ok?” Amethyst ran over to them and asked.

“Yeah, we think so...” Connie told her.

“I'm trying to figure out what they were doing to them before we got here... they only had them for a few hours, but I'm still worried they did some kind of damage...” Pearl was focused on the screen full of data Zeke couldn't interpret.

“Thank goodness.” Steven sighed with relief. “Don't worry you guys, you're safe now...” Steven spoke to the inanimate rocks.

Zeke had remained near the door they had come out of, taking the scene in. He still wasn't sure who to believe.

“Strahm.” He heard a voice behind him. The voice from the phone call that had started this whole chase. He turned to see a tall reddish gem with square black hair standing behind him. In his coat. “I'm sorry this got out of hand.” She extended a her hand for a handshake. “Garnet.” She introduced herself. Zeke hesitantly shook it, noting the gemstone in the palm of her hand. “I'm sure you have questions... and not answering them has done nothing but bite us. So I'll answer what I can.”

 

“Steven said you've known about them.” He gestured at the facility around them. “Why should I believe you over them?”

“Because we didn't kidnap you. We didn't threaten to shoot you. I could go on, but I think that's enough.”

“The Maheshwaran's death... did you have anything to do with it?”

“No.”

“What Issac said... about that man's body being hijacked by a gem... was that all a lie?” Zeke asked. Garnet froze. The whole room went silent.

 

“WHAT?” Pearl shouted. Guess she'd been listening. “It's gotta be, that's not possible...” She said dismissively.

“He said Brinner... the man who killed them and tried to kill Steven and Connie... he said his blood contained the chemical components of a Ruby.” Zeke told them. Everyone in the room looked genuinely shocked... Pearl even held her hand over her mouth for a moment before digging back into the computer urgently.

“So you had nothing to do with that?”

“No.” Amethyst told him definitively.

“Is it possible?” Zeke asked Garnet. “I mean, Steven said he was half gem so...” Garnet said nothing in response, still frozen in thought.

“Well yeah, but not like that!” He said indignantly, before pulling up his shirt and exposing his stomach, where a large pink gem the size of a grapefruit was set in his navel.

“It can't be...” Pearl muttered as she examined the data on the screen again.

“Homeworld.” Garnet said shakily.

“Homeworld...” Zeke repeated, beginning to understand. “There's a lot more of you out there, aren't there? And you're not ALL good.”

Steven and Amethyst both nodded solemnly.

So they were both right. These aliens, these gems around him, didn't mean any harm. But MOHS was right... there were others with dark designs on the planet. They had just made a blanket assumption that all gems were enemies... the kind of fear based reaction he'd seen before. Which meant with time and patience... it might be possible to talk this out.

 

Bang.

An instant after a gunshot, Zeke's jacket crumpled to the ground, with the clang of a pair of gems hitting the floor. Before anyone could react...

Bang.

Zeke felt the pain in his gut. He looked down and saw the red spreading. He looked down the hallway from which they had come to see Issac, somehow loose; Lying prone on the table bracing his sniper rifle. And everything went black.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notice: I was a bit sneaky. One of my other SU stories, HYBRID, ties in here. It's part of the collection now, so have a look when you get the chance. 
> 
> Most of the pieces are in place. But what is the picture?
> 
> See you soon readers.


	10. And He Sees

_Ezekiel Strahm. What does this name mean?_

**It means my parents were a little too religious. That’s why I go by Zeke.**

_I do not understand._

**It’s the name of some guy from the bible.**

_What did this man do?_

**Supposedly saw the future. A prophet or whatever.**

_Do you believe this?_

**No.**

_Why not?_

**I dunno. I’ve never really thought about it.**

_Yet it is your name._

**Yeah.**

_Hm… ha ha… ha ha ha…_

**What?**

_Ezekiel Strahm… how do I explain…_

**Explain what?**

_Fate._

* * *

Zeke woke up, not shooting awake, just the sort of peaceful awakening you get when your internal clock beats the alarm clock. Next to him, still asleep and wrapped in her share of the blankets, was Lizzie. She’d already been asleep when he’d made it home last night… but she always had the longer sleep cycle of the two. He reached for his phone on the nightstand. 5AM. But not the day he thought it should be. Of course not.

 

That was one hell of a dream. Aliens. Psh.

 

He supposed he’d go ahead and get up. Get the coffee going and all that. He peeled himself out of bed and headed for the bathroom, grabbing a fresh shirt from the dresser by the door. He squinted in the bright light of the bathroom as he pulled the white tank top off. It smelled worse than usual… blood? He forced his eyes open in the light, and there were faint pinkish stains in the chest. Had he been bleeding? He looked down at his chest… then looked in the mirror to confirm what he was seeing.

And he saw.

* * *

 

David Brinner climbed over the picket fence into the Maheshwaran’s back yard. He had a mission. He had a target. He had the required tool. He would obey. He stepped towards the back patio door, reaching for the lethal weapon in his pants pocket…

“Mr. Brinner.”

He froze, whipping around quickly to see a man pointing a gun at him. A late 20s, black haired man in a brown trenchcoat. Neither of them said anything. The man in the trenchcoat broke the silence.

“I want to know what you’re doing here.” Zeke said.  “Well, I know what for the most part, I’m more concerned with why.”

Brinner said nothing, merely shooting the man a glare. Who was this? There wasn’t supposed to be anyone else here…

“If you’re not gonna tell me, there are other ways. I can probably dig something up at your home they missed.”

“They?”

“Well, that hasn’t happened yet I suppose… guess I’ll get the scene untouched.” Zeke raised an eyebrow. “Something that’ll lead me to the bigger fish.” What was this guy on about? “Do you know you’ve been hybridized? How long ago was it?”

 

_WHAT. HE KNOWS. KILL HIM. KILL HIM._

 

Before Brinner could reach his gun, he was tackled to the ground and pinned. The man wrenched the gun from his pocket and threw it out of reach across the yard.

“See… I just gotta know…” Zeke threatened. “Who exactly is giving you orders?”

“Shut up shut up shut up…” Brinner muttered.

“What are they planning? How many have they made?” Zeke demanded, holding the gun to Brinner’s temple.

“Enough that I’m disposable.” Brinner said firmly. And smirked.

“Well, if you are disposable, they probably didn’t clue you in on everything.” Zeke thought out loud. “Fair enough.” He pressed the gun harder to the man’s head. “One last question… what did they do to me?” He demanded.

* * *

Four inches long. ¾ inch thick. Depth, he wasn’t sure, since it’s difficult to measure when it’s embedded in your chest.

A blue gem shard.

His entire dream maintained a stunning clarity.

No… that was impossible. And he could prove it. He would just look some things up online that proved the dream wasn’t real. Like that article about Greg Universe he’d read. Or Connie Maheshwaran’s name on the honor roll. Or the conspiracy nut kid’s blog. He could even punch the street address of the crime scene into Gaggle Maps street view and nothing would be the same, if said street address even existed.

 

Holy shit…

 

Everything lined up. Exactly. He’d even been able to find photos of the Maheshwarans that matched his dream perfectly.

Except today was the day of the murder. It went down tonight.

* * *

Zeke undid the top buttons of his trench coat, exposing the unbuttoned shirt beneath, and his bare chest with the gem shard embedded in it.

“Do you know what this is?”

“No.”

“Do you know who did this to me?”

“No.”

“What do you know?”

“The organic must die. She fuses with the Rose Quartz.”

“Who gave you that order?”

“Why are you attacking me? We are supposed to be on the same side.” Brinner demanded.

“What?”

“You’ve been hybridized too. Why do you not serve them?”

“Them?”

“How do you not know? It’s impossible!”

“Start making sense if you want to keep living.”

“Like I said, disposable.” Brinner grinned. “Just make it quick.”

“No.” Zeke told him. “I called in sick from work for this… I can do this all day.”

Well, actually he couldn’t. At some point, Steven and Connie were going to warp in on that pink lion. Probably best if they didn’t witness this. With the butt of his pistol, Zeke knocked the man out.

 

Getting him into the trunk of the cutlass wasn’t that difficult… the streets were mercifully deserted and Brinner was small and light for an adult male, so Zeke managed to carry him in his coat. Double checking the handcuffs were secure, he drove away with the would be murderer.

* * *

“Put me through to MOHS please.”

“Sir, that’s not a real organization. You can’t believe everything you hear on the internet…” The caller at the FBI said condescendingly.

“Do you want this human-gem hybrid or not?”

The line went mute for a second. He’d either been hung up on, or connected. Zeke tapped his foot impatiently inside the phone booth… it was a miracle he’d found a public phone in this day and age. He heard a crackle as it reconnected.

 

“Hello?” He heard an unmistakable voice.

“Issac, you rat bastard, hope you’re having a better day than me.”

“How do you know my name?”

“I’d rather not say. And let me just say, you do not fucking deserve this, but I don’t have anyplace better to dump this guy.” It made Zeke sick to his stomach to consider helping them, but it would get Brinner out of play for certain. “I have a man, tied up in room 316 of the Pelican Sun hotel in Delmarva. If you test this man’s blood, you’ll find something very interesting that’s right up your alley. He is quite hostile, I sorta spoiled his assassination plans for the evening.”

“Who is this?”

“Someone who knows a lot more than you.” Zeke grinned as he hung up the phone. That should keep MOHS busy for a while.

* * *

**Three Days Later**

“Oooh, Connie, we gotta play this one!” The boy grinned as he dug quarters out of his pocket. He and the girl didn’t seem to have a care in the world as they started up the ‘Meat Beat Mania 2’ arcade machine.

“Is this the one you told me Garnet got addicted to once?” She asked him.

“Nah, that was the first one.” Steven assured her. “I broke it.”

 

Zeke watched them for a minute from outside the arcade, eating some chili fries. He couldn’t help but make his way back here. Although he had yet to figure out what to do next.

Zeke was officially MIA from his job and his girlfriend. With whatever had been done to him, and the potential for MOHS or whoever was behind Brinner to now be after him, it wasn’t safe to be around her… or any place near his old life really.

He had more visions each time he slept. Mostly little things… nothing grand and important, nowhere near as elaborate as what he’d gotten in that first burst. With the things he saw, he always had a choice to play along with it or not, and change the outcome accordingly. Which he’d been thankful for after he dreamed about trying the Dog-Nut and suffering the nauseating consequences, a bullet he dodged earlier this morning.

 

But yes… he was officially seeing the future. Still coming to terms with that.

 

“Nice coat.” He heard a voice from behind him. He turned to see the tall red gem he’d met at MOHS… had seen himself meet at MOHS. She wouldn’t know him under these circumstances.

“Thanks.” Zeke replied and tried to walk away, but her hand grabbed his shoulder.

“A word, please.” He gestured out to the beach, away from the children.

 

“Three days from now, you finally get up the nerve to come talk to us.” Garnet said with arms crossed. “But there’s really no reason not to have his conversation now.”

“Pardon?”

“That’s what I see… and I’ve also seen what you tell us.” She said.

“You lost me.”

“I know you have future vision because I have it too.” She said bluntly. She held out one palm, the one with Sapphire’s gem, which temporarily regained it’s blue hue. “Part of me is a Sapphire, the same type of gem as the shard in your chest. It’s their unique ability.”

“So… I don’t really have to explain anything, do I? Because I’ve already done it in your vision?”

“More or less.” She adjusted her visor. “So I’ll just skip to the information I wanted to give you.”

“Your information about homeworld gems created human-hybrids is invaluable to us. Our future visions work differently. You get visions in sleep without rhyme or reason. I see multiple possibilities, and can do it at will if I know where to direct it. You’ve given me that direction, so we’ll be looking into these hybrids and the gems behind them. Your information also means I’ll be monitoring MOHS more closely, to prevent a repeat of what you saw. Although, the fact that you gave them Brinner… does not bode well.”

 

“Well, I saved that whole family, plus kept you all hidden. Not bad.”

“No, and thank you for that. You prevented a lot of heartbreak.” She nodded. “Now, I know you have questions for me.”

“What they did to me…” Zeke couldn’t help but run his fingers across the glassy shard through his shirt. “Is it harmful? Dangerous?” Garnet paused for a moment.

“I can’t say. Whatever the answer, it’s too far ahead for me to predict. However, I can’t help but feel that, whatever is directing your future vision, it’s benevolent.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Something you were gonna say down the line.”

“This conversation is weird.”

“There’s a reason sapphires didn’t talk to each other that much.”

“What should I do now? If I go back to my life, would I be putting anyone else in danger?”

“Yes.” Garnet said firmly. “MOHS will eventually find you there. You’ll need to swap your car out at some point too. They’ll find it on security camera at the hotel.”

“Damn, I like that car. So what should I do now?”

“Follow your instinct. Trust your visions.” She told him. “They might lead you to something I can’t see.”

“So… go be a wanderer?” Zeke resigned himself to it. He didn’t need future visions to see that coming.

“Don’t worry, you take to it pretty well.” She told him. “I’ll keep in touch.” She turned to walk away.

“How?”

“I’ll find you. Goodbye for now Zeke.” She got a few paces away. “Oh. The Mystic. That’s it.” Zeke’s face scrunched up a bit in confusion.

“I suppose I’ll find out what that means later?”

“Now you’re getting it.” She said cheerfully with a wave her hand as she walked back towards the temple.

* * *

Alright, here’s the deal. Aliens are real. They’re called Gems. The government’s known about it for forever, and I recently had some close encounters, at least one of which I don’t remember. But here’s what I do know.

They are making human hybrids. Don’t know how it works, don’t know why but it can’t be good. Some, like the one I met, appear to be getting orders. Others might be sleepers, waiting to be activated. Maybe that’s what’s going on with me, it’s too soon to tell. Get some weird minerals in a blood test? The government will probably come knocking soon. Sorry. If you meet a guy named Issac from that agency, punch him in the nose for me, I’ll buy you a drink if we ever meet. Or maybe like me, you woke up one day with a shiny rock embedded in your body. Keep that shit hidden. Weird stuff might start happening, but you’ve got a friend here, I can try to help.

I know Brinner and I can’t be the only ones. None of us asked to be abducted and experimented on. But you don’t have to go it alone. Maybe if we put our pieces together, we can solve the puzzle.

I know what I’ve seen. Not all these aliens are bad, and we can live in peace. They are our allies. You meet any of these aliens who wear a gold star, you listen to them. They’re the good ones. They’ve been protecting humanity from the bad ones for thousands of years.

Maybe we humans should start doing our part too.

* * *

Zeke nearly typed his name by instinct. He obviously couldn’t use his real name. Ronaldo had used his real name on his blog, but he was painfully easy to find. Even though he was about to be on the run, his name would lead them back to Lizzie. He needed a handle. An alias. Should make it something profound. Meaningful. Something about his visions? Little too on the nose. Something to do with him being a detective? Nah, someone could put his disappearance together with the start of this.  What sounded… ah. There it was.

 

He signed the first post of his new blog.

 

_**-The Mystic** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued in HYBRID and another fic coming soon...
> 
> Phew... i was nervous about pulling this twist. It was planned from the start, but I was worrying people wouldn't accept it. But it's not like I could just withhold the ending due to that fear. But with everything out in the open, a few notes.
> 
> \- HYBRID takes place before Three Dead, One Missing, and when finished will cover the homeworld experiments on Earth that led to all this.
> 
> \- The fic I will be doing after that (unnamed so far) will continue to build on this little sub-universe, will involve Zeke, more hybrids, more MOHS, and will have the Crystal Gems more heavily involved, as Zeke is no longer an intrusive outsider to them. It will be more character/action driven instead of a detective story, and not be bound to Zeke's perspective the entire time like here.
> 
> \- This uh... this will be updating from time to time once that continuation fic starts. Because If the crewniverse can run Ronaldo's blog, why not?.  
> \- http://iamthemystic.tumblr.com/
> 
> I believe I've got most of the loose ends tied up here, but I've certainly planted the seeds for further storytelling. I hope you've enjoyed reading, and feel free to check out the original Zeke Strahm stories at the links below. A big thanks to my friend Tom for letting me write his character in this universe, if you're on tumblr, feel free to give him a high five for it. Also, a big thanks to CoreyWW for being a great sounding board for my ideas and plenty of encouragement, and thank you for all your comments and readership. The fact that I finally wrote something people actually really enjoyed is what kept me going through the rougher patches.
> 
> Until next time.
> 
> Original Zeke Strahm Stories  
> http://openthedoorandyouwillfindme.blogspot.com/  
> http://helpingthosehelpthemselves.blogspot.com/
> 
> Tom's Tumblr (Zeke's Creator)  
> http://sickslickman.tumblr.com/


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